Joxer's Quantum Leap, part 3
Skip to: part four

by Anne Beaudry

Sam looked closely at the hooded figure and thought he could see a flash of blonde hair before she disappeared. Xena had reached the spot where her friend had been and was howling in anger and frustration.

"NOOOO!" Xena screamed as she threw her head back. She whirled on Sam and approached him with a vicious look on her face. "Where is she?" she growled.

"I don't know. Al, can you go to her?" Sam asked, watching Xena fearfully. She looked like a tiger ready to spring.

"I'm trying Sam, but it's like she disappeared off the face of the Earth! That can't be right! Ziggy! I don't care what it takes! Put me there now! Damn it, Ziggy! NOW!" Al chewed on his cigar furiously and punched various buttons on the hand held computer. Smacking it a few more times and cursing Ziggy, he finally disappeared.

"Is he gone?" Xena asked.

"Yes. I think he's centered on Gabrielle. He should be back here in a few minutes." Sam replied. "Look, I'm really sorry! I'm going to do whatever it takes to get her back."

Xena saw that he was still holding his side and felt guilty. He was here to stop Gabrielle from getting hurt and he had definitely shown that he was willing to fight for her. She sighed and walked to him. "Sit down. I want to look at that chest." she said.

Sam looked up at her and slowly sat, grimacing as he felt a sharp pain. Xena put her arm around him and eased him down slowly. She put her hand on his shoulder and gently pushed him down so that he was laying.

"Relax. I'm going to take that armor off and your shirt. Just lay still. I'm going to check your ribs, I think one of them might be broken." Xena said.

Sam relaxed and felt her hands run over his chest. He reminded himself that she was just trying to determine his injuries and was not trying to be romantic. She pressed gently on his side and he yelped in pain. She probed a little further and finally she stopped and looked at him.

"From what I can tell, you've got two cracked ribs. You'll need to take it easy for a few days." she said.

"I can rest later. Right now we need to find Gabrielle and stop whoever's trying to kill her." he said, trying to get up.

Xena put her hand to his chest and held him down. "Listen, that's my friend's body, not yours, and after all this is over, I want him to come back and have his body the same way he left it. Relax for now, there's not much we can do tonight anyway."

Sam relaxed and lay back down. He knew she was right. They could not do anything until Al came back. He looked up at Xena and admired her strong features. She had gotten up and was walking around the campsite, examining the remaining guards. The ones that were able to stand had ran off, but there were still several that were lying on the ground moaning and others that were unconscious. Xena had gone to one guard and was slapping him on the cheeks.

"Come on! Wake up!" Xena growled.

The guard slowly came to and looked groggily up at her. He closed his eyes and opened them again. He groaned when he saw Xena still standing over him.

"Who was that? Where did he take her?"

"Huh? Who?" the man said.

"The person in the cloak! Who was it? Where did he take Gabrielle? Where did he take the blonde?" she demanded.

"I don't know who it was. All I know is that she wanted us to get your little friend. I don't know where she took the blonde." the guard muttered.

"She?" Sam asked. "Did she have blonde hair?"

Xena stared at Sam. "Blonde hair? You saw blonde hair and you didn't tell me?" she said.

"I wasn't sure. I only thought of it when he said it was a woman. I'm sorry!" Sam replied.

"Damn! That means only one person. Come on. I think I know where she took Gabrielle." Xena said.

Sam got to his feet slowly and started off behind the warrior woman. They returned to their own camp to get Argo. After mounting behind Xena, Sam wrapped his arms around her waist and held on tight as she urged the horse into a quick canter.

Sam held on desparately to Xena's waist, but his grip was weakening fast as the pain in his side increased. He started to slide off and felt Xena grab his arms and hold him as she slowed the horse. When they had come to a stop, she helped him off the horse and jumped off to help him lay down.

Xena took his shirt off and felt Sam's ribs again. They weren't broken, but if she had kept going, they might have. She mentally kicked herself for her thoughtlessness. Once she had realized who had taken Gabrielle, her first thought was to get to her. She hadn't forgot about Sam being hurt, she simply hadn't thought about it. She sighed and put his shirt back on. If she hadn't been in such a hurry! Sam was right about one thing, they'd be better off waiting for Al. At least then they would know for sure where to go and what they were heading into. She could have gotten them both killed by charging in as she did.

"I'm sorry, Sam. We'll rest here until Al comes back. At least then we'll know where we are going." Xena said softly.

"It's okay. I would have done the same thing if I were you. I wonder what's keeping Al? He's usually back by now." Sam said.

"Maybe he couldn't get to us because we were riding Argo?" Xena asked.

"No, I've been in cars before and nothing like this has happened before." Sam replied without thinking.

"Cars?" Xena asked.

"Oh...um... they are kind of like horse-less chariots." Sam said.

Xena felt a familiar tingle on the back of her neck and stood up looking around. "Where are you?" she demanded.

With a flash of light, a tall, dark and handsome man appeared and walked towards Xena. He glanced at Sam curiously. "Who's your friend?" Ares asked. "Why is he pretending to be that idiot?"

"This is Sam, he's... uh... visiting." she said.

"Whatever. Anyway, I just stopped by to let you know that Gabrielle's daughter is hanging around again and I don't think she's here for a social visit." Ares said, smirking.

"Sam!! Xena! I found her!! Look you gotta come quick! She's been kidnapped by herself!!" Al said quickly.

"What?" Sam asked, confused.

"The person who took her, looks like her, I mean exactly like her! Sam you gotta hurry!" Al said.

"Who, in Tarturus, are you?" Ares demanded. "You're not a god! Where did you come from?"

"I don't have time for this! Sam let's go! Are you okay to ride? I can do this alone if you can't." Xena said.

"I'm coming. Help me up," he replied, "and, could we go a little slower this time?"

Xena nodded and helped him onto Argo. "Where is she, Al? How far?" Xena asked quickly.

"She's in a cave, about a mile south of here. You've got to hurry! She's tied on this rock that looks like an altar or something. I think she's going to be sacrificed!" he yelled as they rode quickly away.

"What is going on?" Ares demanded.

"Sorry, no time to talk!" Al said as he punched a button and disappeared.

Ares stared at the spot where Al disappeared in disbelief. "Will someone tell me what, in Tarturus, is going on?" he yelled and then disappeared.

Xena urged Argo to a full gallop and beyond. Argo was breathing hard and her sides were slick with sweat. Foam was dripping from her mouth as she panted for breath. Her hooves pounded the ground, driving her forward to something that was absolute evil. If anyone else was riding her, she would have stopped long ago. But she trusted the woman more than anything and would do whatever this woman asked of her. She felt the woman's heels dig into her side again and she redoubled her efforts.

Sam held on to Xena for dear life as the horse beneath him seemed to have endless energy. It was probably almost an hour since they had left Al and Ares. He wasn't sure who Ares was, but he didn't think he was a god. There was no such thing as gods. But if that was the case, why did he happen to show up out of thin air? He wasn't sure, but he thought it may have been another time traveller.

Xena urged Argo on faster and faster. She had never seen the mare go this fast before and she wouldn't have pushed her now if she wasn't worried about Gabrielle. Sam had his arms around her waist and was holding on tight. She knew that he was probably in a great deal of pain but tried to think about Gabrielle. She couldn't figure out how Hope was still alive. She had seen her die. Both Gabrielle and her had seen the monster that was Gabrielle's grandson kill her as he was dying. So how did she come back? She vowed to find out before she killed the daughter of her best friend. Looking up, she saw Al ahead of her and waving his arms to get her attention.

Xena reined in her exhausted horse and slid off the mare's back. Turning, she helped Sam down as well and held a finger to her lips. Sam nodded and followed as she led the way to a small cave entrance. Al appeared beside them and pointed to the cave. Xena waved him towards the entrance, indicating that he should go in.

"Okay, she's right through there. But be careful! There's two women in there with her. Two blondes and one of them looks exactly like Gabrielle!" Al said. Sam nodded and started to enter the cave. Xena grabbed him and pulled him back.

"You're hurt. I'll go first." she whispered.

Sam nodded and followed her into the cave. It opened up into a wide cavern as they entered. Xena was crouched down behind a boulder and Sam joined her. He looked into the cavern and was amazed at what he saw. The cave was flooded with light that was coming from nowhere and everywhere. He could see no torches or candles, yet the cave was as bright as a summer day. In the middle of the cavern was a stone altar with a woman tied down on it. He looked closer and saw that it was Gabrielle. Looking up, he saw Gabrielle was standing above her with a raised dagger, preparing to plunge it into Gabrielle's heart. He rubbed his eyes and looked again, but still saw two Gabrielles, one tied on the altar and one standing above with the raised dagger.

"For you, Father!" the standing Gabrielle said and began to bring the dagger down.

"NOOO!!" Sam yelled and ran to the altar.

"Aiyiyiyiyiyiyiyiyiyi!!" Xena screamed and leaped from the rock. She flew through the air and, kicking the dagger out of the hands of the look alike Gabrielle, she landed on the altar. "Hello Hope. I thought you were dead." Xena hissed at the woman standing in front of her.

"Now Xena, you should know that Daddy would never let me die, unless he wanted me to, of course. You have no idea what you are dealing with. Leave now, and I will promise you a quick death." Hope said.

"NO! You promised!" a voice from the back of the cave screamed.

Xena stared toward the sound of the voice and her eyes opened in shock. "Callisto! How did you get here? I used the Hind's blood dagger! You were supposed to die!" Xena said in shock.

Ignoring Xena, the blonde stalked over to Hope and grabbed her throat. As she raised her above the floor, Hope's eyes glowed a fiery red. "Put me down or answer for your disobedience!" Hope growled in a voice that was so utterly evil that even Callisto paused.

Xena quickly turned and cut the ropes that bound Gabrielle. She helped her friend to her feet and pushed both Gabrielle and Sam towards the cave entrance. Turning again, she found herself face to face with Callisto. Hope was behind her, a dagger hovered in the air before her face aimed at Xena.

"Xena!" cried Gabrielle. "Joxer, we've got to go back! Let me go! Xena!" Sam looked back at the tall warrior woman. He saw the determination on her face and realized that she knew she was going to die. He looked at Gabrielle again and knew that he could not leave Xena alone like this.

"You stay here, I'll go back and help!" Sam said and turned to go back.

"Not on your life!" Gabrielle said and sprinted back to stand by her friend. Sam arrived a few moments later and the three friends prepared for battle.

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